By BABAFEMI OJUDU
Today Thursday, March 27th, I am 64 years old.
I have spent three decades in the turbulent but fulfilling trenches of journalism, standing up for truth, justice, and the dignity of democratic values—often at great personal cost. I have spoken when it was dangerous, resisted when it was costly, and have never betrayed the ideals that first called me into public life.
I spent four frustrating, uneventful years in the Senate, and eight quiet years in the Presidency, enduring all manner of inconveniences, discomfort, and ethnic segregation – driven only by the hope that with patience and commitment, I could help usher in a new day for our country by supporting the candidacy of the incurable patriot, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for President. That dream, unfortunately, did not materialize.
Since then, I have returned to my comfort zone: watching, reflecting, and intervening from time to time. And now, as I mark my 64th birthday, I have found clarity in a quote whose author I do not know:
“People of character do the right thing even if no one else does—not because they think it will change the world, but because they refuse to be changed by the world.”
This is now my resolve.
At 64, I have no illusions left. But I still have hope—hope that our democracy can be rescued from cynicism, that the next generation will do better than we did, and that Nigeria can one day be governed by reason, not impulse; by principle, not patronage.
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I remain in my party, but my ultimate loyalty is to the higher calling of conscience. Because in the end, loyalty to country, to justice, and to democracy must outweigh loyalty to any individual or institution.
This birthday, for me, is not just a celebration of life—it is a recommitment to purpose. To speak truth. To stand firm. To resist decay. To keep alive, in whatever small way I can, the flickering but enduring flame of democracy.
May that flame never die.
The Star
